spacetoday.net: SETI effort suspended

Posted: Wed, Apr 27, 2011, 7:08 AM ET (1108 GMT)
Allen Telescope Array antenna (SETI Institute)

Operations of a radio observatory used to search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) has been suspended because of a lack of funding. The SETI Institute announced last week it has suspended operations of the Allen Telescope Array (ATA), a group of 42 dishes located in northern California primarily used for SETI searches, because of a funding shortfall. The institute said the University of California Berkeley, the institute's partner in running the ATA, had to cut its operating budget for the observatory, forcing them to put the observatory into "hibernation mode". While other observatories are used for radio and optical SETI searches, the ATA is thought to be the observatory most heavily devoted to those efforts. The SETI Institute said it is looking for new funding sources to restore operations of the ATA, including the US air Force, which is interested in using the observatory to help track objects in orbit.